Turning the Seeing Back to Its Source Is the Dharma Gate of Perfect Penetration Through the Faculty of Mind (Training the Faculty of Mind)

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Volume Five: 阿那律陀。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我初出家。常乐睡眠。如来诃我。为畜生类。我闻佛诃。啼泣自责。七日不眠。失其双目。世尊示我。乐见照明。金刚三昧。我不因眼。观见十方。精真洞然。如观掌果。如来印我。成阿罗汉。佛问圆通。如我所证。旋见循元。斯为第一。

Explanation: Aniruddha cultivated starting from the eye faculty, and his realization was "turning the seeing back to follow its source." "Turning" means to reverse, to turn around—reversing the seeing of the eye faculty from its original outward direction to inward, following the source of seeing, that is, arriving at the fundamental place. Originally, one saw material form outwardly, outside the body and outside the mind; now one must turn around to see that fundamental place from which the ability to see arises. What is this fundamental place? It is the source from which the function of seeing is brought about. Who guides and determines the seeing of the eye faculty? First, the manas; second, the eighth consciousness—and the ultimate source is the eighth consciousness.

Arriving at the manas is the attainment of a great arhat; arriving at the eighth consciousness is the attainment of a great bodhisattva. From the perspective of the mundane world, the manas has the function of seeing all dharmas, including seeing the inner and outer realms of the six sense objects. However, because of ignorance, the manas's function of seeing dharmas is restricted, and it must rely on the six consciousnesses to see through the five sense faculties. If ignorance is removed and the manas's maximal function is restored, then it is possible to see dharmas without the six consciousnesses seeing outwardly through the five faculties; the manas alone can see dharmas, letting the five faculties rest and the six consciousnesses rest.

Through cultivating the Vajra Samādhi of Delight in Seeing and Illumination taught by the World-Honored One, Aniruddha trained himself to see dharmas with the manas, seeing inwardly without relying on the eye faculty. As a result, he could see the worlds of the ten directions with great clarity, vividly and truly, just like looking at a fruit in his own palm. "Turning the seeing back to follow its source" turns out to be the dharma gate of perfect penetration through the manas. Who says the manas cannot see the realms of the five sense objects? The manas of the great arhat Aniruddha could see the worlds of the ten directions, luminous and true—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, nothing was unseen. He attained samādhi through the manas, and the mind consciousness became useless. Then the claim that enlightenment and realization of the fruits depend on the mind consciousness would be an enormous joke.